Design Build Go - new Agile scissor jack review

[Dokatd]

Totally agree with Zimm, site prep is always pratical, safety is always a priority.
Lifting and jacking equipment is something I take seriously and work with nearly every day. I have had a few of my own near misses and seen enough jack, lifting and pressing related injuries over the years through work.
The crux is it doesn't matter if you like the overlanding fluff, expanding the offroading ego or pretending to be a mechanic in your driveway take the time to plan, assess what and where you are lifting, choose the right tool for the job, prepare the area and protect yourself and others because the ground doesn't move, people are soft, vehicles are hard and gravity, mass and force will always win when it goes wrong.

I'm not a vehicle lifting, hydro pressing cowboy by any means. At least not all the time.

So I would suggest you two are taking my comments to an extreme.

And if safety is key then I would also say a scissor jack should be very low on the vehicle jacking equipment list. Probably right next to a HiLift. But the versatility of a HiLift makes up in leaps and bounds over its general safety.

 

[Zimm]

Totally agree with Zimm, site prep is always pratical, safety is always a priority.
Lifting and jacking equipment is something I take seriously and work with nearly every day. I have had a few of my own near misses and seen enough jack, lifting and pressing related injuries over the years through work.
The crux is it doesn't matter if you like the overlanding fluff, expanding the offroading ego or pretending to be a mechanic in your driveway take the time to plan, assess what and where you are lifting, choose the right tool for the job, prepare the area and protect yourself and others because the ground doesn't move, people are soft, vehicles are hard and gravity, mass and force will always win when it goes wrong.

Had a neighbor a few blocks away a couple decades ago, apparently fiddling with his 924 in the driveway. They found him with the car jack tipped, pressed up against the wall. He didn't get squished like a grape, just a nice slow python like suffocation. Respect the mass.

 

[Zimm]

I'm not a vehicle lifting, hydro pressing cowboy by any means. At least not all the time.

So I would suggest you two are taking my comments to an extreme.

And if safety is key then I would also say a scissor jack should be very low on the vehicle jacking equipment list. Probably right next to a HiLift. But the versatility of a HiLift makes up in leaps and bounds over its general safety.

Well maybe, but if you go back and read, your statement was kinda derogatory and nothing short of definitive, so, I'm just pushing back on that since my experience doesn't comport.

I would also say, the jack failures are an engineering problem. Kinda like when someone tells me a solid axle is better and stronger and more reliable than IFS. In which case I'll say, "Sooo, a dodge dakota dana 30 is better than the IFS in my 100lc" ... of course not, but what happens when a statement is oversimplified to that extreme, is it becomes a lie, and is completely misleading to the unaware. These jacks, maybe next time lend them yours instead of watching them risk their lives.

3-4 times a year we're moving 20-50000lb gensets on roofs or around high power lines or whatnot. I'm damn certain my guys can do this in their sleep, but protocol, paperwork, pic plans, hot work forms, and equipment checks that take a few days for a 15 minute move are always completed as if its the first time for everyone, and STILL stupid shit can happen. I watched a subcontract versalift operator leave the steel plate with one wheel holding 35000 pounds, that was not permitted by law to touch the ground, or I'd have to have the tank re certified as leak free. He wanted to just touch down and back up, but the asphalt had compressed, so at my expense I stopped the lift, cribbed the entire load, called in a crane, and re situated everything to the start point of the plan. Is that extreme for changing a tire... YES to the point of hyperbole... but, at its core is the same respect for what you're doing and the forces involved. Humans are nothing more than water balloons waiting to be popped. It doesn't take much, just a few lbs of force on a hard object against you, and you're dead. One of my goals in life, is to not die of something preventable.

I've often thought of removing the high lift from my truck. Honestly, on a job site, that thing would get thrown out. If I saw a sub with one, I'd lock and tag it. 100% liability. Outside of training on one to use it for lifting and tugging, I've almost always found a way to bypass it. I used one once. The proximity of you to the force is terrible, the weight being cantilevered always introduces force on the x axis, the mechanisms on well maintained ones still fail and jam more than anything else. its 40lbs and unwieldly. It's the old wives tale of vehicle recovery that we've heard we must have, but we don't know why.

 

[Tazzieman]

I've often thought of removing the high lift from my truck.

Yes, the humble yet potentially lethal "farmer's jack"as they are known and marketed.
https://www.nfuonline.com/updates-and-information/hse-fatality-stats-nfu-response/
That said I have one and have used it very sparingly and selectively.

 

[Dokatd]

Well maybe, but if you go back and read, your statement was kinda derogatory and nothing short of definitive, so, I'm just pushing back on that since my experience doesn't comport.

I would also say, the jack failures are an engineering problem. Kinda like when someone tells me a solid axle is better and stronger and more reliable than IFS. In which case I'll say, "Sooo, a dodge dakota dana 30 is better than the IFS in my 100lc" ... of course not, but what happens when a statement is oversimplified to that extreme, is it becomes a lie, and is completely misleading to the unaware. These jacks, maybe next time lend them yours instead of watching them risk their lives.

3-4 times a year we're moving 20-50000lb gensets on roofs or around high power lines or whatnot. I'm damn certain my guys can do this in their sleep, but protocol, paperwork, pic plans, hot work forms, and equipment checks that take a few days for a 15 minute move are always completed as if its the first time for everyone, and STILL stupid shit can happen. I watched a subcontract versalift operator leave the steel plate with one wheel holding 35000 pounds, that was not permitted by law to touch the ground, or I'd have to have the tank re certified as leak free. He wanted to just touch down and back up, but the asphalt had compressed, so at my expense I stopped the lift, cribbed the entire load, called in a crane, and re situated everything to the start point of the plan. Is that extreme for changing a tire... YES to the point of hyperbole... but, at its core is the same respect for what you're doing and the forces involved. Humans are nothing more than water balloons waiting to be popped. It doesn't take much, just a few lbs of force on a hard object against you, and you're dead. One of my goals in life, is to not die of something preventable.

I've often thought of removing the high lift from my truck. Honestly, on a job site, that thing would get thrown out. If I saw a sub with one, I'd lock and tag it. 100% liability. Outside of training on one to use it for lifting and tugging, I've almost always found a way to bypass it. I used one once. The proximity of you to the force is terrible, the weight being cantilevered always introduces force on the x axis, the mechanisms on well maintained ones still fail and jam more than anything else. its 40lbs and unwieldly. It's the old wives tale of vehicle recovery that we've heard we must have, but we don't know why.

We can agree that HiLifts don't belong on non agricultural job sites. I would never allow one of my crews or subs use one on my job sites. I also wouldn't let them use a scissor jack. Hell I make them leave the jobsite to change a tire.

We have special equipment for lifting HVAC equipment and would rarely Jerry Rig something. Something like a HiLift is not compatible with the job nor is some random scissor jack.

Regardless, different worlds and different levels of risk mitigation.